Why You Story Still Matters | The Deep End

Have you ever wondered if God can use your story for something good, if God can use you for something better? This is a question that I asked myself a lot when I started learning about who God was and the purposes that he had for my life. Hey, my name is Victor Martinez. I'm a community pastor here at Crossroads and I get the privilege of leading our Spanish speaking community at Crossroads. And so if you're one of them, hey, we're glad to have you as part of our community. And I want to share with you a story of something that happened to me when I was kind of like starting my journey with God and how I think that God used that. But before I go there, I want to encourage you because God has a story that he wants to share with the world and it is your story. In fact, if you feel that maybe there are things in your past that God cannot forgive, I'll tell you what, the God that we serve, the God that we believe in is the God of grace. And God wants to use every single circumstance. In fact, he knows what you've done. He knows what you will do and he wants to use that for his testimony, for his glory. In fact, I want to read with you a verse in the Bible, in the book of Revelations that I think is very encouraging for us to think about what God has for us in our lives. Revelation 12 verse 11 says, they triumphed over him by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony. There are two components attached to this scripture. One that you and I cannot do anything about, but that it is good. And it is that we have triumphed because of the lamb of blood, of the sacrifice that Jesus did on the cross for us, dying for our sins. That is guaranteed for us because of what Jesus already did. But the other component here attached to victory or to triumph is the testimony that we get to share with other people. And that is talking about how God used our pain, our suffering, our past, and he redeemed that for the purposes of his kingdom.

And that is good. That could bring hope to people, that could encourage people, and that will show people that God actually is in the business of restoring people, restoring hearts. And another component that I think is important for us to remember when we're thinking about our stories and if God can use us or not, is that the God that created the universe, the author of life, the author of your life, knew the purposes that he had for you since the beginning of time. So let me read you another scripture in the book of Philippians that I think is going to be very encouraging. Philippians chapter 1, verse 6. He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion unto the day of Christ Jesus. I'll share with you a little bit of my story and how God has used my past for the benefit of people in my life today. So today I'm a pastor, but like I shared 10 years ago, I wasn't. In fact, as I was getting to know Jesus, one thing that I also used to like to do a ton was go out with my friends and have drinks. And there were times where I would have so many drinks that obviously I didn't remember what things I was doing, where I was going. And the truth is that in those moments, I wasn't exemplifying Christ. And so one particular night that I went out with my friends, I started having a good time. And after drinking a lot of hard liquor, I find myself in the back of a police car arrested because I had too much to drink and I was driving. In this process, I am feeling extremely convicted. I feel out of shame that what I did wasn't good. At this point, I'm already starting to share the word of God with other people. And I was wrestling with God. I was asking God, if you please, if you deliver me from this, I promise that I'm going to do this for you. And the truth is that God knows us.

We don't need to be bargaining with him. But I feel like he met me in that space and he said, OK, I'm going to use you for my for my plans. And that's going to mean that you're not going to drink for some time. You're going to sober up. Right. And so I did my test again. It came under the limit and the police let me go. And it was almost like, well, it was quite frankly, it was a miracle. And in that time, I took seriously my part of the bargain that where I said, hey, God, I'm not going to drink. I ended up drinking later. That's the story for another day. But the point is this. After that point, I saw that God was bringing people into my life that were struggling with some sort of addiction. And I felt like because I had gone through what I went through and other things as well, that I could speak life onto them, that I could encourage them, that God could still use us for something good. And so if you feel that your your story is not good enough yet, then Remember that God is writing your story and he's not going to put his pen down until it is good. And so be encouraged. And if you're in a difficult place, just think about a God that will care for you wherever you are, whatever you're experiencing, and know that he's going to use it for his plans. Thanks for watching The Deep End. I'm Chuck Mingo, one of the pastors at Crossroads, and we would love to come alongside you if you have a prayer request or you want to reach out to Crossroads. You can do that at prisonsatcrossroads.net. You can also find that information on our page on the Pando app. And we would love to come alongside of you if you're looking for re-entry support. You can email reentryatthe47.org and we would love to come alongside you in that way. Let me pray for you.

God, thank you for the person who is watching right now. I thank you that you know them, you see them, and you are for them. We are for them at Crossroads, and I pray, God, that they would sense that. I pray for joy. I pray for peace, and I pray that they would be able to walk in your power in a unique and fresh way. In Jesus' name, amen.